1. Field of the Invention
The invention proposes to a device for adjusting the longitudinal position of a subassembly, especially a seat, on the horizontal floor of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle and for locking the same in an adjusted position.
The invention relates more particularly to a system for outfitting the interior of a motor vehicle of the "one-compartment" type, which must embody flexible outfitting capabilities, and especially great modularity, with regard to both the number of removable seats or subassemblies provided in the passenger compartment, and the number of positions that these subassemblies can occupy.
2. Discussion of the Background
According to a first known design, it has already been suggested that a plurality of series of fastening points be provided on the vehicle floor, each of which series, preferably having four fastening points for the four feet of the seat or of the subassembly, determines a mounting and fixing position.
A device for increasing the modularity of the outfitting of the passenger compartment has already been suggested. Such a device is described and illustrated in, for example, European Patent Application A 0615879, wherein the horizontal floor of the passenger compartment is equipped with at least two parallel rails or slideways which accommodate, in longitudinal sliding manner, guide members in the form of slides, also called shuttles, which guide the longitudinal displacements of the seat and which make it possible to ensure locking of the seat in adjusted longitudinal position, the seat having substantially vertical orienting feet whose lower ends contain means of known design for fastening the seat to the slides or shuttles.
This embodiment permits the modularity to be increased and also permits the longitudinal position of a seat to be adjusted while conserving its orientation and fastening, by shifting the slides.
However, this design relies on using as many pairs of slides or shuttles as correspond to the number of seats to be mounted and, if it is not desired that the slides be visible in the passenger compartment, they must be fitted in the bottom of slideways embedded in the floor, thus making it difficult to fasten a seat to the upper faces of the slides, in that these are not visible and are masked by brush-like means which partly block the central longitudinal slot of the rail-shaped slideway.